A New Life: Chapter 2: Tomorrow is Another Day
by betterthings89
Summary: This saga is about the lives of the children of Lilly&Oliver and their friends children too. This chapter is about a traumatic event in Lilly & Oliver's younger sons life. Please leave reviews!


_*NOTE: This is the second chapter of my new saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place 5 years before the end of "Meant To Be"_

_*If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!!_

_*Anyway, I hope you like this! Please leave reviews!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 2: Tomorrow is Another Day-**

_**Jimmy's Story**_

Today was the first day that Jimmy was free from his one month of grounding. He had been grounded for getting into a fight at school. He had not repeated the incident since then and did not intend to. The first thing he did with his freedom, on this sunny Saturday morning was to go down to the pier to get his hair cut again. He was now keeping it incredibly short instead of incredibly long like his brother's or how his father's was as a teenager. So he had to have it trimmed much more often than he was used to.

After he was done getting his hair trimmed down he came back out onto the pier. He ran his hand through his hair. "Much better." He thought to himself. Just then his two best friends Sam and Alice came up to greet him. "Hey Jimmy nice hair cut!" Sam said. "Very nice J!" Alice said. "Thanks guys, I'm trying to stay with this new look. What do you guys think?" Jimmy asked. "Great idea makes you look cool man!" Sam remarked. "Very cool." Alice added.

"Anyway I gotta go. I'm going to visit my grandparents so you guys have fun!" Sam said. "See ya Sam!" Jimmy and Alice said in unison. Jimmy and Alice began to walk in the opposite direction. "You know that new haircut makes you look really cute Jimmy!" Alice said crinkling her forehead. "What? Cute? That's not really what I was going for. I was going for cool! Besides, I'm your best guy friend, right? I don't get to be cute." Jimmy told her, a little embarrassed by her.

"Yeah you're right. We're friends. And it does make you look cool." Alice said, running her hand over his hair. "But just so you know, you are cute. But I'll keep that to myself. We're friends, that's it." she finished.

"Yeah, just friends! Cool friends!" he said, smiling at her coolly. "Wait Jimmy I hafta know. We're only twelve and you're a boy, so girls are still a little gross to you. But I wanna know if I have feelings for you." Alice insisted. They where only twelve so they didn't really have a good perspective on how they felt about the opposite gender. Jimmy knew he thought girls where pretty, he didn't think they were gross. And Alice knew that she thought boys were cute. But that was about it. Of course being a girl Alice was a little farther along in this area of awareness. But not much because Jimmy was very smart. In the area of intelligence he was smarter than she was. But that wasn't what she was concerned with at the moment.

"So how do you plan to find out, Alice?" Jimmy asked her, confused. "We have to kiss Jimmy." She said, her face turning a little pink. "Kiss? Are you serious? Why?" Jimmy asked. He was a little bit confused. He had thought about kissing girls once or twice, and thought he might like it. But he was only twelve and wasn't quite sure he was ready yet. "It's the only way. And if we don't like it I promise we don't hafta do it ever again!" Alice said. "Ok, but just because I'm your friend and nothing else. If any of my guy friends found out I'd be dead!" he said.

They walked off of the pier and found a secluded spot under a dock. "Remember this is just because you wanted to find out. Nothing else!" Jimmy said, making sure to get the point across. "I know Jimmy; I promise it's not going to be a big deal, ok?" Alice said. "Ok." He replied.

"Ok, how do we do this?" Jimmy asked. "We'll get closer, and then on the count of three we'll just do it." Alice told him. "Ok. You start." He said, still a little embarrassed. "Ok." She said. She walked closer and put her right hand on his slightly soft stomach and her left hand on the muscle of his arm. He didn't move a muscle. "Ok, 1-2-3." Alice said. And then their lips came together, and Jimmy's top lip locked with Alice's bottom lip. They pulled apart after a little less than ten seconds and looked at each other. Her lovely brown eyes connecting with his piercing blue eyes. Then they broke eye contact. They had both enjoyed it, but they weren't completely sure why yet.

"So, it's agreed. Just friends then?" Jimmy asked her. He had felt something. It might have been attraction. But at his age he wouldn't know. Not for another year at least. So he wasn't going to say anything. "You know I might like you a little Jimmy. I'm still not sure." She replied. "We're not kissing again!" He said, assertively. "No. I agree, just friends." She said, smiling timidly.

They began walking back onto the pier, so they could have a good time for the rest of the day and think of anything but the fact that they had just experimented with kissing each other. About a half an hour into their day on the pier Jimmy got a call on his video phone. He answered it, and as he looked into the screen and listened to what the other person had to say, his facial expression became very serious.

When he was done talking, he looked up at Alice. "Sorry Alice I gotta go. That was my mom." Jimmy told her. "Why? What did she say? Did she decide you're still grounded?" Alice said, looking at him sternly. "No I'm not. My parents need me to be with them right now." He said. "Why? What's up?" Alice asked again. "I can't talk right now. No time. She didn't tell me much. It has something to do with my brother. I'll see ya later." Jimmy said. He began running off the pier. His lung capacity had started to increase due to his new found passion for running. He could now run longer without losing his breath as easily. And while he was grounded, running was the only thing his parents would let him do outside of the house. So he had done a lot of running and working out, and he had discovered that he quite liked it.

_**Rose's Story**_

Rose Oken sat in her family's garage. She had a cast on her right leg because she had broken it a month ago, falling off her bike. Her brother Jimmy had helped her through it, helping her walk around when she was having trouble. And she had never stopped being thankful for it.

She sat on the floor in the garage adjusting the gears on her bike; she was bored because she couldn't do most of the things that she found fun. She enjoyed doing things that involved a lot of action such as riding her bike with her friends, skate boarding, and surfing. The problem was she couldn't do any of those things with a cast on her leg. Lucky for her, her best friend was there to help keep her company.

"Why do boys have to be so stupid? Why can't they grow up as fast as girls do? I'm ten and I'm more mature than any boy my age!!" she pouted. "Hey! I'm not stupid!" Her best friend insisted. "I didn't mean you Alex. You're different!" she said. "Thanks, now I could use your help, since you're so smart!" He said. And she was very smart. He was being honest. "What is it you need help with?" she asked him. "I wanna learn that bike trick I saw you doing a couple of months ago. That would be so cool if I could do that." Alex said. "I'd help you but I don't get this cast off until tomorrow." She said, pointing down at her right leg.

"I know, that's what I meant, tomorrow. Or whenever your leg is better." Alex replied. "So what's up with your brother getting into another fight at school? I know that was a month ago. But that's three fights now, right?" Alex asked. "Yeah. It wasn't his fault. This jerk named Andy Corelli kept starting the fights. The last one was because Jimmy made him get a bad grade on a test when he realized Andy was cheating off of him." Rose told him. "Oh. Smooth move on Jimmy's part. Not the fighting thing. I mean the making Andy get a bad grade part." Alex said. "Yeah, I know. I'm proud of him. I mean the stopping Andy from cheating part, not the fighting. Well maybe the fighting too, just a little, cause he won. But really just the test part." Rose said.

Minutes later Rose's mother Lilly burst into the garage. "Rose we need to go right now. You'll have to finish that later. And Alex it was nice having you over but we need to leave." Lilly said frantically. Lilly helped her daughter up off the floor with Alex's help. Then he left as he was told.

"Mom, what's going on?" Rose asked. "I've called Jimmy to come meet us. And I got your dad to come too." Lilly said hurriedly. "What is going on? Why isn't Michael meeting us there too? Where are we going?" Rose asked quickly. "I'll tell you when we get there. I need time to think. But it's about Michael." Lilly told her.

_**Michael's Story**_

Michael Oken was much like his father at his age. He had long black hair, he was thin and a little awkward, but he had blue eyes, not green. He was a funny, happy, eight year old boy with two best friends that where always there for him, just like his father. Of course his father had only had one at that age and he married her. Michael's two best friends were cousins, Robbie Rod Stewart, and Susan Stewart. He secretly thought he might like Susan a little more than Robbie did, more than just a friend or a cousin, but he wasn't telling anybody. He was eight and girls where generally gross to him when he thought of them like that.

He was over at Susan's house with Susan and Robbie Rod playing in the Stewarts' back yard. He fell off a swing and scraped his leg. "Michael you gotta be more careful. I'll go get a towel to wipe that off." Robbie said. "Thanks!" Michael said. Robbie ran in and grabbed a towel and brought it out. Michael began to wipe his leg off. "You're such a klutz Oken!" Susan said teasingly. He gave her a look.

He got up and continued to swing. But before he knew it he had fallen off again. There was now another cut on the same leg. He cringed a little. He wiped a small tear out of his eye with his sleeve. Then he proceeded to clean the cut out with the towel from the table in the middle of the yard.

He got up once more and began to swing. But within the next ten minutes he was on the ground with another cut. This time it was on his right elbow. He was crying a little. But he didn't slow down at all. He walked over to the table and wiped his arm off.

"Another cut Oken! You are such a clumsy, simple boy Michael!" Susan said to him, good humouredly. "I fell, I'm always doing that, it's no big deal, but I get back up." Michael said. He was a little bit clumsy, but he didn't care, he was a very happy boy and loved his life and his friends.

He ran back over to them, ready to continue having fun and playing with his friends. "You know Michael; you're not having much luck with the swings, why don't we try something else instead?" Robbie suggested. "Like what?" Michael asked them. "How about the monkey bars?!" Susan said, enthusiastically.

So they all went over to the monkey bars. Susan climbed up fist and swung down. She started making her way across on the bars. Then Robbie jumped up and climbed up on top of the bars. "Wow you can see right into your yard from here Michael! You should see this!" Robbie suggested.

Michael climbed up. "See. There's the back of your house. There's your trampoline. There's the deck." Robbie said. "Wow, you're right! Cool!" Michael said. Just then he felt a little dizzy, he had not realized that he had lost a little blood from the cuts, and that was making him a little lightheaded.

"I need to get down now." Michael said, hazily. "Ok, just swing over the side and hang down from the side bar, and drop onto the ground on your feet." Susan instructed him. He started to bend over to put his hands on the side bar. But he was overcome by dizziness. He lost his balance and slipped.

He came tumbling down to the ground. He had landed flat on his back. He was seeing black spots in his vision and his body hurt all over now, not just his leg and arm, where he had scraped them before. "Oken are you alright? Get up and clean yourself off. We've got a basketball. We can throw hoops if you want. You can't fall and get cut doing that. Well maybe _you _can. Come on!" Susan said. "Michael, are you alright? What's wrong?" Robbie asked, looking concerned.

Michael's back was very numb, and he didn't know why but something was holding him down. He couldn't get up no matter how hard he wiled himself to. "I can't get up!" he moaned out in pain. "Why? What's wrong Oken? What hurts?" Susan asked. "My whole body hurts. I can't move." Michael choked out, seeing more blackness on his vision. "You probably just winded yourself in the fall, you'll be ok!" Susan said to him.

"He doesn't look ok. Tell us what's wrong. What's going on?" Robbie asked Michael. Michael tilted his head over at them, because it hurt too much to lift it, and looked at them. "I can't move my legs. I can't sit up." He cried. "Why can't you move your legs?" Susan asked. "I… I can't feel anything in my legs, or some of my back." Michael said, quietly. "What? Are you sure? What's wrong with…?" Susan said. But Michael didn't hear everything. He had passed out.

The next thing Michael was aware of was the sight of nothing but bright white light and a soft beeping sound. "He's coming around. Michael, can you hear me?" a man asked. "What happened? Where am I?" Michael moaned. "You had a bad fall. You're in a hospital now. My name is Doctor Dorian. Your family is here waiting to see you. I'll send them in as soon as I explain to you what is going on." Dr. Dorian told him.

"I need to explain to you why there is no feeling in your legs and part of your back." Dr. Dorian said. "I broke my legs, right? That's what it is. I'm so clumsy some times." Michael said softly. His vision was now clear and he could see everything. Doctor Dorian looked straight at him with a saddened and worried look. "I'm afraid it's not that simple Michael. There was some nerve damage in your spine, and it caused the loss of sensation in your lower back and legs." Dr. Dorian began. "What does that mean? I don't understand." Michael asked quietly. "It means that you are paralyzed from your lower back down. You will have no use of your legs, and will not be able to sit up on your own due to the damage to the nerves in your back. I'm so sorry." Dr. Dorian said, starting to cry himself. He had had patients that had this happen. But it always broke his heart when it was someone so young.

"Can I see my parents?" Michael asked. "Of course you can." Dr. Dorian said. He pushed a button on the wall. "Mr. & Mrs. Oken, you can come in now. Your son wants to see you." He said into the panel. Moments later his mother and father, Lilly and Oliver came in with tears covering their cheeks.

"I've explained to your son what has happened. Do you need to ask anything further?" Dr. Dorian asked them. "Well can you do anything to help fix the damage?" Oliver asked. "Our surgical team, lead by our Chief of Surgery Dr. Turk, repaired all the damage. But that's all they could do." Dr. Dorian explained. "So he'll get better? He'll walk again?" Lilly asked. "We just don't know. The condition may be temporary. Or it may be more permanent." He said. "What does 'more permanent' mean?" Oliver asked. "It means that there is a very good chance that your son may never walk again. I'm so sorry!" Dr. Dorian said through light tears of his own.

Later on Rose, Jimmy, and Miley walked in to see them. "Hey little bro, how's it going?" Jimmy said, through small tears. "Not great. You got your hair cut again." Michael answered. "Don't worry about that right now Mikey, we're all here and we love you." Jimmy said, squeezing his brother's hand. "Michael, you know we're all here for you, you can count on us for anything!" Rose said, squeezing his other hand. "Michael, you're so special. All of us, you're mom and dad and your brother and sister, Susan and I. We're all here for you." Miley told him. "And so are Robbie and me. Don't give up. You're gonna be ok. You'll be able to live just fine! We're all here for you always." Jackson said, as he walked in. Michael said nothing. He just smiled and squeezed his brother and sister's hands tight.

Lilly came over to him and stroked her hand through his hair and down onto his cheek. "Just remember that we all love you and that you'll get through this. You'll be able to work around this. And know that tomorrow is another day. And I know you'll find a way to make it, and be a cheerful and wonderful boy just like you always are." Lilly told him, warmly. "Thanks mom. I love you. I love all of you!" Michael said calmly.

They all stayed with him for a while. Slowly they began to leave. Over the next week they all came to visit him. When the week was over, they took him home, and began to make the adjustments to help him with his **new life**.

**Notes to the readers:**

***Reviews are much appreciated!!**

**_I hope you enjoyed this second chapter of my new saga. There is definitely more to come._

_***I know this was a sad, kind of dark chapter. But I promise there will be brighter chapters in the future. Most of them will not be this sad. In fact, this is probably the most sad it will get. I don't know yet._

_****Again, it might help understanding where the main characters came from if you have read "Meant to Be parts 5-9 or 8-9" or something. Although they are pretty much their own characters, so it might not be that hard to read without knowing where they came from._

_***** Just to clear things up at this point the ages of the characters are as follows. Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is 12. Rose is 10. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all 8._

_******The title "A New Life" means that it is someone else's lives that are being chronicled, instead of Lilly and Oliver's lives. Specifically it is the lives of their kids and their friend's kids. But mostly their kids. At least at first. We'll see as the story develops._

_****** *There will be more in the near future. So I hope you will continue reading._


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